The Legion and the Lioness

by Robert D. Armstrong

  “Rotus committed suicide while you moved on to be captain of the Orion,” she said. I paused, lowering my eyebrows as I gazed through the floor.

  “Say that again?” I gulped.

  “Commander William Rotus. Cause of death: Self-inflicted gunshot wound.” She dumped it on me. To everyone else, Rotus had been dead for several decades. But for me, his memory was fresh in my mind, only months old.

  “Two years after you were frozen, Rotus took his life,” she followed up. I glanced down at my hands.

  “N-neither Arania nor Corvin told me,” I mumbled.

  “My point is, you don’t hesitate. You take risks. Why shouldn’t we be cautious when it comes to your husband? He’s all you have. You understand exactly what’s at stake if there are survivors in that pod. Don’t you?” she challenged. We locked eyes for several seconds only centimeters away.

  “Y-you’ve been putting on an act,” I whispered.

  “Part of my programming is to appear very robotic, ignorant to some human emotion or behaviors, thus I can collect more intelligence. I gather that androids from your day were fairly simple in thought processes, at least compared to myself,” she revealed.

  “So, you’ve been gathering intelligence on me this whole time?” I asked. She began to pace slowly, placing her hand under her chin. She stopped, glancing at Drake.

  Xena glared back at me. “My orders are to ensure the survival of Titans, at all costs.”

  “Titans?” I asked, shifting my eyes over toward Drake. He immediately looked away.

  “What’s going on? What is this?” I asked.

  Xena stepped forward and pushed my head back with her face. “You’re an outsider until you prove otherwise. Unlike myself, you might be human, but you’re a foreigner. If I sense you’re jeopardizing our mission in any way by putting your husband above the citizens of Titan, my orders are to kill you,” she said plainly.

  I gulped as a loud thud erupted. The Russian drop pod slightly jolted the craft as Xena and I held our stare at one another. Titan needed me, but they wouldn’t hesitant to kill me either if I stepped out of line. I snapped my head away, marching past her toward the airlock.

  “O-open the first door of the airlock. Let’s get a look inside.” Drake tried to shift our attention away from the confrontation.

  I attempted to calm myself, I wondered if she could detect my heart rate. The thought of her tearing my limbs from the sockets flashed in my mind.

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with her suspicions, but it was something to think about. If given the chance, would Luther want me to risk the people of Titan for him? No, he wouldn’t. The other argument was if Titan had a legitimate chance of survival. There wasn’t much time.

  Xena’s position and suspicion made sense. I was a wildcard. She was waiting for me to slip up, waiting for love to overshadow logic so that she could put me on ice again, this time for good.

  Decades ago, I raised my hand to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic. My promise felt misplaced now. I was transported to an unfamiliar world. What was I defending now? Despite Titan’s attempt to separate themselves from Earth, they were falling into the same traps. Maybe the androids had it right. Perhaps humans were a virus in need of extermination. Titan was over a billion miles away from Earth and still making the same mistakes.

  Or was I justifying my thoughts if the opportunity arose to save Luther over Titan? It was selfish, illogical, and embarrassing to even consider that was a possibility.

  I needed to find a way to ensure my mindset was for the greater good. I had to make the rational choice. I needed something to latch onto. I thought about the Titan school children I spoke with briefly. The androids were coming back for them if we didn’t pull this off. I gritted my teeth and clamped the upper seal to my suit, linking to my helmet. “Sealed,” I said, glancing at Drake.

  “Sealed,” Drake confirmed, giving me the thumbs up. I could feel his eyes on me.

  “Sealed,” Xena whispered. I glanced over at her, noticing a grin on her face. She obviously didn’t need life support, and I felt this was an opportunity for her to let me know she’d been playing me. The signs were there, I just didn’t put them together. I underestimated her.

  This bitch was sly. She mimicked the behaviors of the 1.14s from my time, relating to my understanding of machines. She put on a front that was all an act. It was eerie, my first moment dealing with a machine that outsmarted me.

  I stormed toward the airlock, placing my hand on the latch handle.

  “Hey.” Drake stopped me, placing his hand over mine before I could open the door.

  “What?”

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, thanks,” I said. He peered into my eyes.

  “Let’s do this,” I said. Drake stepped behind me as Xena stood parallel to him, all of us facing the airlock.

  “Still no life signs detected?” I asked.

  “Negative,” Xena answered.

  “When you open this airlock, there will be another door, then a thick glass, a laser proof shield. We’ll be able to see inside without having to enter,” Drake said, patting me on the shoulder.

  “There’s no need to be armed then,” I said.

  “No, there’s not,” Xena confirmed in a smartass tone.

  “Good.” As I started to pull down on the airlock latch, I noticed a button that read: ‘Hold to eject docked pod’ beside the latch. I paused as Xena stepped closer, looming over my shoulder.

  “Captain, we’re waiting,” she said. I glanced back at the button while Xena watched me like a hawk.

  “Right,” I said.

  I yanked down the latch as the first airlock opened. Inside, I noticed a cramped passage, followed by another closed hatch that was about three meters away.

  “The drop pod is on the other side of that door, right?” I peered ahead.

  “Correct. Let’s go,” Drake instructed. We hunkered through the airlock tube toward the final hatch, our metal boots clanking against the floor. I glanced back at Xena as she stepped out of view.

  “Good. If they see her, they might not have a positive reaction,” I said.

  “I think she gets it,” he said, looking over his shoulder.

  “I do,” Xena muttered.

  “Just making sure.” The second door had a circular handle in the middle. I stepped in front of Drake, leading the way.

  “Captain, see that handle in the center? Turn it clockwise twice, then release it.” Drake gulped.

  “On it.” I followed his instructions. The hatch opened slowly, revealing a protective glass barrier. Steam funneled from the top of the door, obscuring our view inside.

  “See anything?” I said, taking a half-step back.

  “No, nothing yet. It might take a few moments.”

  “If anyone is alive, they shouldn’t be hard to see. There can’t be much room inside,” I said.

  “Uh, okay, the steam is dissipating.” Drake peered. Suddenly, a pair of dirty, callused hands slapped against the glass.

  “Holy shit!” I yelled. Drake jumped back. The body and face wasn’t visible yet, though I could tell it was a man. I could hear his faint voice muffled behind the shield. It sounded like he was yelling.

  “Damn,” I mumbled, turning toward Drake.

  “What’s he saying?” Drake asked.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. He ushered around me in the tight quarters. “Sir? Can you hear me in there?” Drake asked, pressing a mic beside the shield. We waited a few seconds. “Use the mic, you have one on your side of the door also,” Drake directed.

  “Hello. I can hear you. Can you hear me?” a man with a heavy Russian accent said. He was panting heavily. His head was now visible in the steam, but I couldn’t make out his features.

  “Yes. Are you comfortable with English, if not, we can translate?” Drake asked.

  “My English is o-okay, Russian better. I will try English. My name is V-Viktor. I am ship captain,” he said. Hi
s voice was scratchy and hoarse, like he’d been yelling.

  “I’m Riven Drake, and this is Victoria Belic. Nice to meet you.”

  I leaned in toward Drake. “He only spoke Russian during the transmissions to Titan?” I whispered, recalling his original message.

  “Okay? Probably wanted to make sure he was communicating precisely?” Drake posed.

  “That’s no less important now,” I replied.

  “You want Xena to translate?” he asked.

  I stared back at Xena. “No, let’s just roll with it,” I replied.

  The steam cleared, revealing an early thirties man. Viktor had cold blue eyes, not far removed from Xena’s. The first thing I spotted was desperation. He appeared feral with his movements, his head twitched as he peered past us into the ship. He was tall and lanky, with sunken in cheekbones, wearing a pair of filthy yellow overalls covered in a dark black substance.

  The steam behind him began to disperse as well, giving us a better view inside the pod. My eyes widened in disbelief as I attempted to make sense of the situation.

  “Oh god. What the fuck is this?” I mumbled. Behind Viktor was a large group of people. I counted sixteen huddled together in the center of the pod. None of them appeared well-fed. Some even reminded me of imagery from the Nazi concentration camps. Their skin appeared extremely pale, their bones protruding from their skin with dark circles around their eyes.

  “Oh, we have a serious situation. Let me handle this.” Drake’s mouth dropped. I noticed his left hand trembled as he did the math. This wasn’t a single family like we were told.

  “This is really bad,” I muttered. Most of them were women and children, maybe four or five grown males from what I could tell. All of them wore ragged clothing. I guessed some of the articles were decades old. One little boy was hugging a woman. He pulled his face away from the adult to have a look at us, staring directly into my eyes. His lip quivered as he began to cry.

  “They shouldn’t be upset, should they? We’re here to help,” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Drake replied.

  “Who’s that? In the corner?” I pointed. To the left of the group was a man lying down.

  “What is the condition of the man, the one lying down? Does he require medical attention?” Drake asked.

  “We all require medical attention.” Viktor gazed into Drake’s eyes.

  “Okay, we’ll get to you, but the man is—

  “Dead,” Viktor injected.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Drake said in a comforting tone.

  “My younger brother,” he added, gesturing his hand toward the body. His eyes dipped downward as he gulped. Viktor glared back up at Drake. His nostrils flared as his eyes glazed over. “Help us. Help me. I still have much responsibility for these people,” he lowered his voice.

  “I understand, but sir, it wasn’t clear you had so many people with you,” Drake said. Viktor glanced over his shoulder, then back at us. His eyes flashed.

  “These people, they hid. I not know they were here until now. Only my family,” he said.

  “That many stowaways on a ship this size? What? That’s a lie,” I whispered, looking at Drake. He kept his eyes forward, focused on Viktor.

  The stowaway story didn’t add up. We only had a few stowaways on the Orion, and this Russian freighter wasn’t even one percent the size of that ship. On the flip side, maybe they could have been in such a hurry it wasn’t possible to check.

  “Okay. What is your air supply status?” Drake asked, speaking slowly and concisely.

  “Three days,” he replied.

  “Food and water?” Drake enquired.

  “No food. Water only. Three days’ supply for water,” he said.

  “He’s considering for all the people onboard?” I asked.

  “This model drop pod calculates the number of people onboard, the figure is accurate,” Xena confirmed from behind us, overhearing the conversation.

  “Please, we have no food. Our supply spoiled, then the robots’ ships find us. Please,” he pleaded.

  “Hold on. I’ll be right back,” Drake said, showing the man his palms.

  “Please!” He pressed his forehead against the glass.

  “Hey. Right back! I’ll be right back!” Drake comforted him. My eyes met Viktor’s as I turned and followed Drake outside of the airlock. He headed to our supply locker built into the wall, pressing a combination pad.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I questioned.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Drake, the supplies we brought were for a few people, not sixteen. The numbers don’t add up,” I said.

  “We can still give them what we have. It’ll keep them alive,” he whispered. I bit my lip for a moment. He wasn’t getting it.

  “For how long? We basically have one fourth the amount we need. Not to mention, these people are fucking starving, Drake. They’ll gorge themselves and burn through it,” I replied.

  “The captain is correct. Studies show people in extreme starvation over-eat,” Xena said.

  “Okay. Fine. Then we ration it out, give them a little now, some later.” He started to pull out some of the food. I put my hand on the locker door, stopping him. “Drake. Consider what I’m saying. None of this adds up. We’re prolonging the inevitable. There isn’t a single measure that adds up in their favor.” I stared intensely into his eyes.

  “Don’t tell me there isn’t a way. They came all the way out here for a chance at a new life. We can figure this out!” He snatched his arms away from the locker.

  “Shh! Okay. Okay, let’s not alert them just yet,” I said. Drake attempted to calm himself, putting his arms behind his head as he stepped toward the cockpit. I could tell he was genuinely touched by their situation. He wanted to pull off a miracle.

  Xena and I understood the harsh reality. For a moment, I thought of myself more like her than Drake, more robotic than human. It wasn’t that I lacked compassion, but in war, not everyone can live.

  “Colonel Drake,” Xena said.

  “What?” Drake snapped around.

  “What is our mission?” she asked. Drake glared up at the ceiling, shaking his head.

  “Retrieve the coordinates of the android base or bases,” he replied. He walked toward me, brushing against my shoulder. “Excuse me.” He opened the locker, he paused, then shut it again leaving the food inside.

  “Stay here,” he ordered as his eyes danced around erratically. This part of the mission had nothing to do with piloting. Drake was in command. I can’t say I envied his position. He put his hands over his head and marched toward the airlock. He took in a deep breath and paused, then slowly stepped back inside.

  I peered around the corner, observing Viktor waiting with his hands on his hips. “Where is food?” he asked.

  “Uh. We’re preparing it. Some of it was frozen, so we’re heating it up,” Drake said. The man licked his lips, staring through Drake into the ship.

  “We are very starved. I tell you this. You can see, no?” he pleaded, placing his hands back on the glass.

  “I know, Viktor. I understand. We’re going to help you. While it’s preparing, we need to talk about the location of the android bases, we—”

  “I know! I know where is two! Two bases!” he yelled, flashing two fingers. Viktor seemed excited and riled up by the question.

  “Great! Do you have the coordinates?” Drake asked.

  “Yes,” Viktor replied.

  “Ahem. Where?” Drake followed up. Viktor locked eyes with him. He cocked his head to the side. He pointed to his head slowly, tapping his skull. “I am ready to give you, but we eat first.” He gestured toward his sickly crew. Drake bit his lip.

  “Any way you could give us just one of the locations in confidence?” Drake asked. Viktor frowned, knitting his eyebrows together. He shook his head slowly. “This is disappointing.”

  “Okay. Okay. Viktor just hold on. I’ll be right back.” Drake turned, stepping back toward us like a beaten d
og.

  I stared at Xena on the other side of the airlock as we made way for Drake. “Now what?” I asked as Drake stormed by. He sighed loudly, heading toward the food locker.

  “Nice stall, but we still have to deal with it,” I said. I’d never seen Drake so visibly shaken. His forehead was sweating while his eyes danced around.

  “I have a plan. We give them food, that’ll get us the coordinates,” Drake said.

  “That’s Viktor’s plan,” I replied.

  Drake paused, closing his eyes. “We don’t have another option. He has all the cards.”

  “What if he’s lying? There’s a chance this guy knows nothing,” I said.

  “The probability that a single refugee in the drop pod doesn’t know the location of an android base is unlikely. They’ve lived on Earth for a combined estimated total of at least 374 years,” Xena said.

  Admittedly, I was torn. If one of these Russians did know, the likelihood I would see Luther again dropped significantly. I scanned back at the drop pod. My heart pounded as I thought about the chance one of these people had the ticket. The Kelton corporation originated in the United States, why would they have a base in Russia? Maybe they were lying, using the opportunity to get a free trip to Titan?

  “Even if they give us a location, how can we be sure it’s accurate?” I asked.

  “Simple. Once we have the coordinates, we transmit them to Titan. We have satellites. It could take a few hours to transmit and confirm it,” Xena said.

  “But your satellites have been up there for how long? And haven’t found any bases yet?” I challenged.

  “Years. We have trouble identifying things at such a great distance. Some bases are likely underground, but if the coordinates are accurate, we should be able to detect them,” she said.

  Drake opened the food locker. “I’m gonna give out a portion that should feed all sixteen of them. If we had an accurate figure on survivors, we wouldn’t be in this situation. The good thing is we can give them some of our rations, we have extra days accounted for,” Drake mumbled.

  “Do we? Really? That’s for us, Drake. In case we go to Earth. Also, if you give them a portion to feed sixteen, that’s like four days’ worth of the food we originally figured for. How do expect to get them back to Titan now? And what about their oxygen supply? A few days? And don’t forget we can’t travel with that pod attached to the XU-97,” I reminded him.